Four in Double Figures as No. 9 Georgetown Beats Villanova, 67-46

WASHINGTON - Freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) and senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./O'Connell each scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures as the No. 9-ranked Georgetown men's basketball team took a big first half lead en route to a 62-46 win over Villanova in front of a season-high crowd of 19,277 at Verizon Center Saturday afternoon.

It was the third win in the last four games, and the fifth in the last seven, as Georgetown improves to 21-6 overall and 11-5 in the BIG EAST. Villanova falls to 11-17 overall and 4-12 in league play.

The Hoyas, second in the league in scoring defense, held an opponent to 60 points or fewer for the 15th time this season and for the ninth time in BIG EAST play.

Porter hit 6-of-11 shots from the field and tied for a team-high six rebounds, while Clark was 5-of-14 from the field and also grabbed six rebounds to lead the team. Porter and Clark were among five players who each grabbed six rebounds, with junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) added 10 points, six rebounds and a tying a career-high with four assists (all in the first half), while senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) scored 12 points with his six boards. Freshman forward Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) scored only one point, but grabbed six boards in 23 minutes.

The Hoyas had led by as many as 17 points in the first half (25-8) and saw the lead shrink to four points (27-23) before a three-pointer from Porter near the end of the first half made it a seven-point game (30-23). A layup from Villanova's Markus Kennedy to open the second half cut the lead to five points, 30-25, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get.

A layup from Sims and one of two free throws from the senior center pushed the lead to nine points, 36-27. A tip-in from Sims with 13:01 to play in the game had the lead in double digits, 43-33. Georgetown out-scored the Wildcats 18-6 over a span of 10:21 as the lead grew to 19 points, 58-39, on a Porter jumper with 3:49 to play. The biggest lead of the game was 24 points, 67-43, on a layup from redshirt freshman Aaron Bowen (Jacksonville, Fla./QEA) with 47 seconds left.

Georgetown took a seven-point lead at the half, 30-23, aided by a hot start that saw the team lead by as many as 17 points, 25-8, during the opening 20 minutes. Tough Georgetown defense limited Villanova to only eight points and three field goals over the opening 9:45 of the game as the Hoyas took a 19-8 lead on a jumper from Porter with 9:33 to play.

A layup from freshman guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) gave the Hoyas a 21-8 lead and a layup from Porter made it 23-8 as Villanova's shooting woes extended, hitting only three field goals in the first 15:35. GU took its biggest lead, 25-8, on a pair of free throws from Porter with 5:30. The Wildcats used a 15-2 run over 2:56 and pulled to within four points, 27-23, on a three-pointer from Dominic Cheek, but a three-pointer from Porter - his third in BIG EAST play this season - gave GU a 30-23 lead into intermission.

Georgetown limited Villanova to 28.0 percent shooting from the field, including 24.0 percent in the second half (6-of-25). It was the fifth time this season the team held an opponent below 30 percent and the third time in league play.

The Hoyas shot 46.2 percent of their shots from the field (24-of-52), hit only 23.1 percent of their three-pointers (3-of-13) and were 69.6 percent from the free throw line (16-of-23). GU held a 41-24 advantage in rebounding and had 10 assists.

The Hoyas close out the regular season home schedule on Monday, Feb. 27, hosting No. 18 in a crucial BIG EAST game at Verizon Center. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery calling all of the action. The game will air locally on ESPN 980 AM.